More than seven million people have been infected with coronavirus across the world – and two in every three cases are in Europe and the US.
At least 7,003,851 cases have been officially recorded, alongside a staggering 402,867 deaths.
Europe has had the largest number of infections at 2,275,305, and has suffered 183,542 deaths.
The US has recorded 1,942,363 cases and 110,514 deaths – both the highest rates for any country worldwide.
The UK has the world’s second-highest death toll, at 40,625, though Brazil is quickly catching up amid fears it could become the new epicentre for fatalities.
A gardener arranges a grave in an area reserved for burials in Sao Paolo, Brazil, which is quickly becoming the epicentre of the virus
The number of global cases of coronavirus has doubled in just over a month, and more than one million have been registered in the past nine days.
The tallies used data collected from national authorities and information from the World Health Organization (WHO, though they likely reflect only a fraction of the actual number of infections.
While testing in many countries has increased since the outset of the outbreak, many nations are still testing only symptomatic or serious cases.
The number of deaths linked to COVID-19 in just five months is now equal to the number of people who die annually from malaria, one of the world’s most deadly infectious diseases.
Despite the growing number of coronavirus cases, many countries are slowly easing out of lockdown in a bid to return to normality.
But a World Health Organisation top official has warned that European countries should brace themselves for a second wave in winter.
Dr Hans Klufe, WHO director for the European region, told The Telegraph: ‘I’m very concerned about a double wave – in the fall, we could have a second wave of Covid and another one of seasonal flu or measles.’
He issued the stark warning that now is the time for ‘preparation’, and ‘this is not a time for celebration’.
England’s chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty has previously said that a second wave of the outbreak could be even deadlier than the first.
Worries have surfaced over the past couple of weeks that Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government is easing the restrictions too soon, with new infections potentially still running at 8,000 a day.
As things stands, nonessential shops, including department stores, are due to reopen on June 15.
Professor John Edmunds, who attends meetings of the British government´s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies, said the epidemic ‘is definitely not all over’ and that there is an ‘awful long way to go.’
Elsewhere in Greece, bars, nightclubs and internet cafes have been allowed to reopen, where an early lockdown is credited with keeping the number of deaths at low levels.
Nearly all lockdown measures have now been lifted in a phased reopening, with regulations in place for businesses to maintain limits on the number of customers allowed and distances to be maintained.
Some countries are easing rolling back lockdown measures despite a climbing number of cases.
Muslims are pictured leaving the Jamma Masjid in New Delhi on 8 June as places of religious worship, hotels, restaurants and shopping malls are allowed to operate again
India is reopening restaurants, shopping centres and religious places in most states, even after the Health Ministry reported nearly 10,000 new cases on Monday.
It means India’s tally has climbed past 256,000 and is now the fifth highest in the world.
The 206 fatalities reported on Monday were the highest single-day rise and takes the country’s death toll to 7,135.
There has also been a surge in infections in India’s vast countryside following the return of hundreds of thousands of migrant workers who left cities and towns after losing their jobs.
Elsewhere in Pakistan the number has continued to spiral upwards, as cases topped 100,000 cases.
The daily infection rate spiked after the Islamic holy month of Ramadan ended and markets were thrown open during the Eid-al Fitr holiday at the end of May.
That followed the government refusing to close mosques and deciding to open up the country even as medical professionals pleaded for a stricter lockdown.
Prime Minister Imran Khan has appeared on national television to tell people the country’s poorest cannot survive a strict lockdown.
There are fears that easing out of lockdown too soon could lead to a spike in cases.
And last week Iran became the first country to report a second wave of infections, though health officials argued it is actually a result of improved testing and data-logging.
